Stealth layoffs have been occurring at Google throughout January, resulting in job cuts across multiple departments. Those affected include employees from ad sales, hardware, AR, and YouTube departments, with hundreds of layoffs in each department.
Layoffs have been prevalent across the tech industry in the past year, impacting companies such as Amazon, Nokia, Epic Games, and Google. Last January, Alphabet, Google’s parent company, laid off 12,000 employees. In December, rumors of another Google restructure acted as a warning sign of potential layoffs.
In an apparent effort to avoid causing alarm, Google has been implementing smaller layoffs of “a few hundred” employees gradually over the past two weeks, rather than a large-scale layoff.
Impact of AI
While Google’s more discreet approach to layoffs was an attempt to minimize job security concerns, it still caused anxiety among employees, particularly in December when the company looked to rely more on machine-learning artificial intelligence, especially in its ad sales team. The integration of AI features in Google Ads, such as a new chatbot and a generative AI image creator, resulted in the replacement of human employees with technology.
Departmental Changes
Job cuts also affected “core engineering” teams and those focused on Google Assistant, the Pixel line, Nest, and Fitbit. Five divisions experienced substantial staff reductions, including the departure of Fitbit co-founders James Park and Eric Friedman. Additionally, YouTube’s business team saw about 100 roles being eliminated with a reorganization of music-related and support teams.
CEO Sundar Pichai acknowledged the tough choices the company has had to make, stating, “These role eliminations are not at the scale of last year’s reductions, and will not touch every team. But I know it’s very difficult to see colleagues and teams impacted.” The layoffs come amidst other layoffs in the tech industry, including Unity laying off 1,800 staff members in January 2024.
